10 Must Have PS2 Games - It's a Pixel THING

• GROOVERIDER SLOT CAR RACING  

Released, back then, as a budget title for the PS2 by the small British development team PlayIT, GrooveRider does deliver in the fun factor! Its super-fast action and innovative gameplay makes us struggle with our own brain to make decisions on the fly to avoid other cars and obstacles!

You’ll probably notice that all the graphical power of the playstation 2 is somewhere else, but that doesn’t mean that this little game isn’t enjoyable. Lighting effects are awesome and there’s a pretty nice set of car types to choose!

In my opinion, only the music could be a little better, but, once again, for a budget title we could not ask for much more!

I’ve had a blast with this one! And it has some nice and fresh ideas that are missing in many of today’s full priced titles!

• STAR WARS STARFIGHTER 

Released in 2001, this was LucasArts’ first PS2 game, so that kind of makes it special and valuable, right?

This game marks a substantial step up from almost every previous console Star Wars installments released before the PS2 came along.

In Star Wars Starfighter we take control of three Starfighter pilots and several different spacecraft to help stop the invasion of Naboo.

Missions are quite simple and show some lack of creativity from the programmers. You just either have to destroy stuff or protect stuff. That’s it. But the action is highly frenetic and you’ll be extremely occupied to think of something else!

This title is somewhat of a spin-off of Episode 1 that puts us in the pilot seat and brings to my memory those awesome early and mid 90s PC and Mac exclusives X-Wing, Tie-Fighter and X-Wing vs Tie-Fighter games.

Starfighter is, with no doubt, one of the best Star Wars game ever released on a console.

• GRAND THEFT AUTO: LIBERTY CITY STORIES 

This PS2 game is a port of a very successful PSP title that was released in mid 2006 at half the price of the PSP version.

Liberty City is practically the same as the one we saw in Grand Theft Auto III, but with much more incorporated elements like, for instance, motorcycles that we could only find first in GTA Vice City. Besides this, the camera movement is much better than the one present in GTA III. The sad side of this title is that if we touch the water we’re instantly dead. Unfortunately, the character we play, Toni Cipriani, just can’t swim or even climb!

The gameplay area is far inferior than the one from its predecessor, GTA San Andreas, but the story is freaking amazing, with some interesting plot twists and characters, and the dialogue is just marvelous.

You won’t regret playing this GTA title. It will offer, at least, 20 hours of gameplay and some awesome story plot, voice acting, sound effects and licensed music!

• INDIANA JONES AND THE STAFF OF KINGS 

All right, everyone says that this game is crap. Crapy story, crapy camera movement, etc. It was even announced for xbox360 and ps3, but it was, eventually canceled in those platforms after constant delays.

The game was initially announced in 2005 and was only released in mid 2009 for the PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS and Wii.

Staff of Kings is not an easy game, but, in my opinion, it offers a good combat system, nice puzzles and awesome interface. Enjoying this game depends largely on how much of a fan you are of Indiana Jones. And, as I’ve mentioned in other videos, I’m a huge fan of the franchise and I’m enjoying it a lot!

• PROJECT EDEN 

This cyberpunk action-adventure game created by Core Design and released in 2001 by Eidos, takes the player to this futuristic underworld filled with a crap load of puzzles to solve.

With Project Eden, the creators of Tomb Raider tried to redefine the third-person action genre. In this sort of squad-based gameplay, where we control, at a time, 4 different characters, we’re faced with ingenious puzzles and clever level design that challenges our brain more than just shooting stuff up.

Our mission is to find two technicians missing from a meat company. That’s right, they worked for an organic meat corporation! Original stuff, to say the least!

Our four operatives must infiltrate a dangerous local gang and face some mutant animals deep through the city limits. A great puzzle solving type of game that will keep you occupied for quite a while!

• MICRO MACHINES 

I’ve recently reviewed, for the PC, the very first Micro Machines title originally released in 1991, and this one right here is a sort of come back to that old gem but in a playstation 2 environment, if you know what I mean. So, this kind of remake of the original title brings some good memories from those glory days of DOS gaming, but with improved sounds and graphics.

The mechanics are the same, but the drivers and vehicles are a bit improved.

It’s a nice addition to my PS2 collection and it’s also fun to play, but don’t expect it to be this blockbuster title from this great franchise.

Buy it, only if you find it for a couple of bucks.

• R-TYPE FINAL 

This is simply one of the best games for this console. A must have title for everyone that is collecting for the Playstation 2, even if you’ve never played the arcade original from 1987.

It was originally planned to be the last game in the series, but, in 2007, Irem released R-Type Command for the PSP.

But, that doesn’t matter. R-Type Final is an astonishing title with awesome little details that will blow your mind. For instance, depending on the difficulty setting chosen by the player right in the beginning of the game, different flight paths and playing experience is provided for each level! It’s like if you’re playing a different game all over again!

R-Type Final has a huge selection of crafts to unlock and choose. There are exactly 101 ships to take out for a spin and to confront the Bydo empire.

Prepare yourself to be amazed by its awesome environments and huge bosses in this tribute to one of the greatest shooting games of all time.

• METAL SLUG 3 

Probably the most famous run&gun franchise ever! When the first Metal Slug title hit the arcade saloons it was an instant success story! The animations, sounds, music and funny looking characters were just right.

In this PS2 installment of Metal Slug 3 we get all that good stuff that made this franchise a huge hit all over the world.

It also introduced into the series alternative routes to choose and make it slightly different every time you play it.

Back in 2004 it may have been kind of odd to see 2D games being released into the market, but this is such a good argument that everyone shouldn’t resist! I believe that the console version of Metal Slug 3 is even better than the arcade original! And bring a friend, ‘cause this game is awfully hilarious played in cooperative mode!

• WRC: RALLY EVOLVED 

Once again I’ve picked this European PS2 exclusive game for one of my videos. Why? Because it’s a lot of fun! It’s easy for everyone to pick a car and take it to those slippery and dusty surfaces. If you feel the need, there’s a lot of driving aids to help you start your career as a rally driver, but the best experience comes from turning off all those options.

The graphical environment in this WRC title is just gorgeous and there’s plenty of action during a stage that will probably distract your concentration and leave you co-driver angry for not listening to his pace notes.

Before advancing to the MotorStorm franchise on the PS3, the guys at Evolution Studios released, in late 2005, this last PS2 driving game. And, I believe, it was a pretty nice farewell to the good old playstation 2.

Again, this was not intended to be a hardcore rally game. It was meant to be fun and it really is! But it’s not just the fun factor the main player here, sound and graphical aspects were really well implemented. So enjoy it! And beware of those loose rocks falling down in front of your car, other drivers with their wrecked cars over the trackside, thick fog and smoke from a huge fire nearby, etc.

• TOMB RAIDER ANNIVERSARY 

After two awful games from this amazing franchise, Crystal Dynamics came back to the series and revived it with, in 2006, Tomb Raider Legend and, a year later, with this awesome remake of the original game from 1996.

Everyone that played the original game should play this updated release. Back in 1996 not everyone had access to a voodoo or 3dfx graphics accelerator card to play Tomb Raider with good frame rates and smooth graphics. So, if this was your case, here’s your chance to play it, but with enhanced graphics and some new fancy moves from Ms. Lara Croft!

Try to pick up the 3-disc Collector’s Edition, like this one, that includes, besides the play disc, another one with extra bonus things and a soundtrack containing music from Anniversary and, as well, from Tomb Raider Legend.



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